Probity Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI)

Probity Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Crown Castle Inc. (NYSE:CCI) by 26.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Probity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Crown Castle were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in Crown Castle by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 204,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,537,000 after buying an additional 8,800 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Crown Castle by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 35,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,665,000 after buying an additional 4,276 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at about $262,000. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Crown Castle in the 1st quarter valued at about $307,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CCI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Crown Castle from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $105.00 to $125.00 in a report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Crown Castle from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Crown Castle from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Crown Castle in a research note on Monday, May 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Finally, New Street Research upgraded shares of Crown Castle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Crown Castle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.18.

Crown Castle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCI opened at $106.89 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $46.55 billion, a PE ratio of -10.02, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $102.78 and a 200 day moving average of $99.36. Crown Castle Inc. has a one year low of $84.20 and a one year high of $120.92.

Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Crown Castle had a negative net margin of 85.54% and a negative return on equity of 619.62%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Crown Castle Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Crown Castle Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $4.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Crown Castle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -39.83%.

Crown Castle Company Profile

Crown Castle owns, operates and leases more than 40,000 cell towers and approximately 90,000 route miles of fiber supporting small cells and fiber solutions across every major U.S. market. This nationwide portfolio of communications infrastructure connects cities and communities to essential data, technology and wireless service – bringing information, ideas and innovations to the people and businesses that need them.